Ted Cruz’s Father Linked to JFK Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald-Unproven!
Summary of eRumor:
A photo from 1963 allegedly shows Lee Harvey Oswald with Ted Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, Sr., standing nearby.
The Truth:
Reports that a 1963 photo proves that there’s a link between Lee Harvey Oswald and Rafael Cruz, Sr., Ted Cruz’s father, are unproven.
Rumors of a link between Rafael Cruz and Lee Harvey Oswald first surfaced in the blogosphere in April 2016. The photo shows Lee Harvey Oswald handling out “Fair Play” leaflets, and a man standing nearby in the background has a passing resemblance to a young Rafael Cruz:
The Wayne Madsen Report, one of the first blog sites to claim that Rafael Cruz was the man pictured near Lee Harvey Oswald states:
Previous questions have surfaced about the 1960s activities of Rafael Cruz, Sr., the father of GOP presidential hopeful Rafael Cruz, Jr. (Ted Cruz). Based on the presence of the elder Cruz, an anti-Castro activist, in Dallas and New Orleans before the November 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy, there is a strong reason to believe that Cruz was associated with Central Intelligence Agency’s anti-Castro operations.
The story went viral after the National Enquirer joined the fray with a story headlined, “Ted Cruz Father Linked to JFC Assassination,” on April 20.
Here’s what we know for certain about the photo: it was taken in New Orleans on August 16,1963. A video of the Oswald handing out pro-Cuba fliers that day can be viewed here. Other photos of Oswald handing out fliers that day have also been in circulation for decades.
Here’s what we know about Rafael Cruz, Sr: He was born in Cuba and came to the U.S. in 1957 on a student visa after opposing Batista’s regime as a teenager. He apparently didn’t speak English and spent his early years working as a dishwasher. Here’s the photo from his 1957 student visa application:
There’s no doubt that there’s at least a passing resemblance between Rafael Cruz, Sr., and the man in the Lee Harvey Oswald photo. But there’s no way to confirm that the man in the photo was Rafael Cruz 50 years later without some kind of other supporting information.
Also, even if the man in the photo with Lee Harvey Oswald was Rafael Cruz, Sr., that wouldn’t tie him to Kennedy’s assassination, as the National Enquirer claims. The photo was taken in August and Kennedy was assassinated in November, so plenty of time passed between the two events.
Given lack of any proof besides a passing resemblence between the man in the photo and Rafael Cruz, we’re calling this one “unproven.”
